Review #1: Cynelish 14

This is my first tasting review. But definitely not my first tasting. The reduction in the frequency of cocktail blogging has coincided with the frenetic acquisition of whiskies. I tend to find whisky reviews too erudite and flowery, so I decided to write a few for us commoners/novices.

Pictured below is my near-empty bottle. So I know this whisky pretty intimately.

The dram is fuller than the bottle.

Even then, it was hard to come up with a review. I call it my “dessert whisky” and find it very fruity and lovely (even though I’m actually a peaty scotch drinker).

Tasting Notes

Dessert: orange marmalade and honey, faint marshmallow, soft fade of smoke (light finish) and is very round and creamy in mouthfeel

Summary

7.5/10 – Very good to excellent

Description: “Orange marmalade”, dessert, some honey and marshmallow with a faint end of smoke. Very round and creamy.

Also. It’s very affordable (~$53).

Additional Information

Because it was so dessert-y, I decided to try it against my benchmark “dessert whisky”, the Yamazaki 12 to compare. Very different. The Yamazaki is much sweeter, with confectionary and apple/strawberry tastes, versus the marmalade and citrus tastes of the Cynelish.

Fun facts:

Prides itself to be unusual that it is a “waxy” spirit, because Clynelish does not remove the natural buildup of oils in the feints and foreshots (added back in)

Founded by the Marquis of Stafford (first Duke of Sutherland) in 1819 to take some portion of the local whisky supply away from the area’s smuggling fraternity

Original Clynelish became Brora, which specialized in peated whisky (due to an Islay shortage because of a drought). The new Clynelish was originally built to replace Brora. So… Clynelish became Brora which became Clynelish again.